A lot
has happened over the past six weeks. In addition to a new interview that
I've done, a contest to win a free autographed copy of Chance for the
Future and the new special at the Chance Encounters Online Store,my latest Fairlight novel, Faith in the Past has finally been
completed. Well, it's as "complete" as it can be prior to being
handed over to editors and test readers.

Brand New Author
Interview
Check out my latest online interview at Writer's
Manual! This is the first interview in which I've mentioned Faith
in the Past at all, so go on over and check
it out!

Win a Copy of
CFTF!
Writer's Manual is also sponsoring a contest! The prize? How about a
signed copy of Chance for the Future? Details can be found at
the end of the interview! But hurry! The contest ends Monday, July 29th,
2002 at 11:59PM PST.

Events and Signings
News
Since I'm currently polishing the manuscript for FITP, tweaking the
cover design, and plotting my next novel, I don't have a lot of time
for booksignings at the moment. However, rest assured, with the release
of FITP (probably October or November this year), I will likely resume
my events and signing schedule, hopefully with my faithful compadre,
Jonathan Martin.

July Special:
Head Wear Sale
It's the perfect time to cover your head and protect yourself from the
scortching sun! From now until July 21, CFTF baseball caps are $3 off
the regular price! These are great one-size-fits-all black-billed caps
and are available in white, gray and khaki. Also, just for this occasion,
I've added white CFTF beach hats and white CFTF visors to the store
and they're also $3 off the regular price! Hurry! The Head Wear Sale
ends July 21, 2002 so
click here to go there!

Also available
at the online store:CFTF
shirts, coffee mugs, mousepads and tote bags at reasonable prices.

Additional items
will be added by the end of the month and the
Hope for Tomorrow store is likely to debut before the next Chance
Encounters Update is released. Keep your eyes peeled!

Chance
for the Future& Hope
for Tomorrow

Nik Tavarone
Lives!
Those of you who have read HFT might argue this point with me. However,
this month, Riot Act, a short story featuring Nik Tavarone has
been accepted into an as-yet-to-be-titled anthology of sci-fi and fantasy
short fiction! Riot Act tells the story of Nik's internment in
a cleansing camp and the events that ultimately lead him to join up
with Chance and the resistance. Unlike Taking Chances, which
I made into a booklet and distributed at my author events and signings,
Riot Act has not yet been widely available. And, it'll be exclusive
to this collection, so you'll want to get yourself a copy of this anthology
when it releases! You'll also be able to check out a lot of other great
modern sci-fi, fantasy and horror voices at the same time. I'm sincerely
excited about this opportunity to be included with many of my peers
in this collection. The anthology doesn't have a title as yet, nor has
a cover been designed. More information as this develops.

Win a Copy of
CFTF!
As noted above, Writer's Manual is sponsoring a contest! The prize?
How about a signed copy of Chance for the Future? But hurry!
The contest ends Monday, July 29th, 2002 at 11:59PM PST.

CFTF and HFT
Reader Reviews
There's a few new reviews up at the Amazon and BN pages for both CFTF
and HFT. Thanks to everyone who chimes in, both in the past and in the
future, with something nice to say about my babies! LOL! Anyway, if
you've read CFTF and/or HFT, I'd love to hear your postive comments.
Please click on one of the links below and add your two cents to the
pot... and rate them both five stars while you're at it!

Cover Design
Not much has
changed from last issue's revelations. So far, though, the rough version
of the cover for FITP has received very positive feedback. Although
I think it might be my best cover yet, I've still got some tweaking
I want to do to it. Now that the manuscript is off to editors and test
readers, I hope to have a chance to actually do it.

A Special Surprise
I'm toying with including a short preview of the next Fairlight novel
at the end of FITP, just to let you all know that, even though I'm taking
a short respite from the Fairlight world, there is more yet to come.
Despite the fact that I haven't yet plotted Faith Restored, I
do know how I expect it to start and I may write Chapter One over the
summer.

Manuscript
Ta da! Stick a fork in it. As far as I'm currently concerned, Faith
in the Past is complete. The manuscript is going to my editors and
test readers this week and I expect to integrate their input into the
manuscript sometime in August. Then I'll probably give it one more final
polish. In the meantime, I hope to make progress on one or many of my...

Upcoming
Projects

Here's where things
now stand:

The Crockett
ChroniclesThis
is top priority now if only so I can beat my co-writer, Chris Weil to
the punch. Forget what it's about? No problem. It's basically a series
"enhanced" short stories about a friend Chris and I share...
A guy I've known since kindergarten named Shawn Crockett. Oh the humor.
Oh the exposition. Oh the inside jokes. I'm gonna have to kick some
serious behind if I wanna get these done before all of my input for
FITP comes back.

Travel Tips
for Every Day
This list book of things I've learned while traveling that can be applied
to every day life is the next thing on my schedule. The tips are all
there just waiting for fleshing out. Why do I have the feeling I'll
be writing this one on my Palm Pilot?

One of the
Girls
You might notice that this one suddenly switched places with "Dreams."
Over the fourth of July weekend, just after finishing draft six of FITP,
I started plotting this
contemporary adventure story of twin teenage girls, one of whom discovers
that she has extraordinary abilities. It's going to be a fun, character-driven
story that I expect to just move along. Elements of it have been shaking
out lately. It'll be refreshing to write something outside the Fairlight
series/world for a change. However, don't be surprised if a new series/world
comes out of this one. Although I don't expect to curb my vocabulary
or the theme I'm planning for this story, this one might wind up with
a Young Adult label on it. Dunno.

Life is But
a Dream
I hate to leave my nonfiction piece on following dreams this far down
on the list, especially since I've got some potential agent interest.
I'd like to sit down and write the whole thing, but I'll probably follow
Elizabeth Lyons' advice (whom I met and attended a workshop by at the
Pikes Peak Writers Conference in May) from her book, Nonfiction Book
Proposals Anybody Can Write: How to Get a Contract and Advance Before
Writing Your Book and put the thing into a proposal. Expect this
one to be shopped around, folks. I hope to get an agent and an advance
out of it.

Faith Restored
I probably won't get around to plotting or writing the fourth Fairlight
novel this year. This story is tied very tightly to FITP so I don't
want to let it languish too long. I'm sure, by the time I get to it,
I'll be delighted to return to these characters and it will be a relief
to be able to write a Fairlight story again without the continuity of
the series hanging so heavily over my head. Nevertheless, as stated
above, I am tempted to write Chapter One this summer and include it
as a teaser at the end of FITP. In fact, unless something extraordinary
derails me, that is likely what will happen.